“It’s my break time. Refreshments will be coming, so if you have time, stay.”
Even after hearing Tyllo’s words, Elise did not understand and hesitated for a while. Then an aide approached and conveyed Tyllo’s intention.
“His Majesty is asking you to join him for refreshments.”
“Ah…my apologies, Your Majesty. I have time.”
After replying, Elise quickly took a seat. When Tyllo waved his hand, the office door opened and servants carrying silver trays entered in a line.
Fruits, mounds of cookies, the chewy texture of traditional Titres desserts, and various beverages on trays.
Just looking at the varieties, it was no less than a proper tea party dessert spread.
“Have some.”
Tyllo picked up a refreshingly lemony drink and offered it to Elise.
Elise took a sip of the same drink as Tyllo’s, and in deference, lightly plated some desserts.
While not a dessert enthusiast, Elise felt she should eat some now.
“Does it suit your taste? Which one do you like best?”
“The traditional Tetris dessert suits my taste.”
Tyllo nodded and called an aide to prepare that separately for Elise to take back to the palace.
“Your Majesty, you need not go to such trouble.”
“Take it. It’s just paltry desserts.”
“Thank you.”
Though the desserts made by the chefs in Karan’s palace were excellent, what Tyllo offered did not feel like mere snacks to Elise, so she accepted readily.
“How is that wolf faring?” Tyllo asked, setting down an empty cup for a new drink.
“Uls is staying in the backyard of His Highness Karan’s palace. We found Uls’s cub at Duke Odilon’s estate. Since the cub was in poor condition, we decided to care for it in the palace until it recovers.”
Though he had already heard this story, Tyllo nodded as if hearing it for the first time.
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
“For what?”
“Did you not lose one of your subjects through my negligence?”
“You mean Duke Odilon?”
When Elise nodded silently, Tyllo gave a bitter smile.
“There are no eternal allies or eternal enemies in this world. So when mistakes are made, prune them mercilessly. Don’t consider others’ personal feelings. Pruning will always allow new shoots to grow.”
Elise refrained from asking if that made her Tyllo’s new shoot.
While unsure if she was truly Tyllo’s new shoot, one thing was certain:
Tyllo would heed her words from now on.
****
Late at night, awakened by an owl’s hoot, Iris rose from her bed, unable to sleep.
Iris had received a banishment order. Her quiet plan to wait for a chance to exculpate Chase’s crime had lost all meaning.
Not only that, but the so-called witnesses, whoever had dealt with them, had all vanished.
It felt like someone had blocked the path she had to take.
“Elise.”
Iris grit her teeth with an audible grinding sound.
Her eyes burned imagining the treatment she would receive in Bedrokka if she returned like this.
Iris sent a letter to Lange, pleading that if allowed, she would prove Chase’s innocence here since he was not guilty, writing on and on.
The reply was one line:
[Come back.]
From that letter, Iris realized Chase would be unable to recover.
Without even a chance to try, she would fall from being so close to the princess position.
Elise had climbed above her head.
That was unacceptable. If she fell, Elise had to fall into the mire with her.
With Elise above her head, she might as well die than see that sight.
As vexation rose to her head, her previously tangled thoughts became clear instead.
Iris began to ponder the reason for Elise’s relentless success.
She first abandoned Chase, then whenever trouble arose, she appeared as if she had expected it and resolved it.
Then what she had to do was simple. If she took the same path, she could at least stand on equal footing.
‘But I absolutely cannot let on.’
Iris spent the night devising a chilling plan.
****
“Regarding the charges of sedition and conspiracy to harm the royal family against the Odilon ducal household, the ruling is as follows: The Odilon duchy title is stripped, their assets are seized by the Tetris royal family, and their households will become slaves of the state office. However, minors and those over 60 years old are exempt from labor and will be banished from Tetris.”
The ruling on the Odilon ducal household was handed down. The official ruling was not so severe, but the secret execution through Karan was more tenacious and prolonged.
Many businesses associated with the Odilon duchy fell. And those who had covertly aided him disappeared overnight or lost their lives.
Chase’s atrocities were settled by receiving Lange’s apology, and Chase and Iris were banished.
Their return journey was no different from the homecoming of defeated soldiers– wretched and endlessly desolate.
“Your Highness, take heart. You can start over in Bedrokka.”
Hiding her true feelings about Chase, Iris consoled his serious expression.
“How can I start over? You can’t fathom how much I’ve lost.”
If it was so precious, he should have guarded it well. Why take it out on her?
Iris narrowed her eyes.
“Once back in Bedrokka, it will all be resolved. Inform His Majesty of your innocence and regain the lost trust.”
Chase disliked how easily Iris spoke. He compared her to Elise, who had tried hard to earn Lange’s trust.
Iris only spoke for her own sake. Her promise to prove his innocence was all lies.
‘She just knows some magic. Empty-headed, her pretty face useless too. I’d rather have a completely powerless woman–at least she wouldn’t pretend to know everything.’
Chase turned his head away, unable to appreciate Iris’s smiling face.
Iris also gave up consoling Chase. He wasn’t a child but he couldn’t control his emotions whenever things went wrong. He was weak and incompetent.
‘The saying “no younger brother like an elder brother” is so apt.’ (TL: a saying that a younger brother is worse than an older brother (or older sister) in anything)
For some reason, David came to mind. He wouldn’t have caused any accident, but even if he did, he would have resolved it like an adult.
‘So that’s why His Majesty is propping up His Highness David.’
David was making great strides while enjoying Lange’s full trust.
‘David was the one suited for me after all.’
She wanted him. Iris shifted her gaze opposite from where Chase was looking. Her eyes sparkled for the first time in a while.
‘I’ll take Elise down and make His Highness David mine. It’ll be completely possible in Bedrokka.’
Iris swelled with hope. But upon arriving in Bedrokka, her hope disintegrated into dust like withered leaves crumbling.
The furious Lange confined Chase to a room. And to Iris…
“Didn’t you say you were going to assist Chase?”
Those were Iris’s words when she told Lange she had decided to go to Tetris. Iris nodded.
“The princess position seems too much for you.”
“No, Your Majesty. I…”
“The sage’s position suits you better.”
“Your Majesty, Chase’s matter is beyond my authority…”
“You running your mouth before me is also beyond your authority. Does the Worton house exist solely to shackle the royal family?”
Lange’s rage was directed at Iris, not Chase. Iris grit her teeth.
“For failing to properly assist the prince as princess, the Worton house deserves punishment, but I’ll give one chance.”
“Yes, I’ll do anything.”
“Achieve great deeds in the Magnus gate subjugation. Let everyone know Bedrokka has conquered the gate.”
She intended to do that anyway – solidify her prospective sage standing, earn Lange’s trust, and properly show Elise her capabilities.
****
“Are you satisfied with just that?”
As Iris and Chase were departing wretchedly, enjoying the sight, Karan approached Elise who was about to turn away.
He stopped her movement, embracing her from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder.
“That’s the man who tried to kill you. No one would have blamed you if you had demanded he be torn apart.”
It’s not that Elise never imagined sending Chase to the execution grounds. She imagined his severed head rolling on the ground over ten times, if not more.
But death was too light a punishment for him. Deceived by Chase, Elise had spent over 10 years feeling alive yet dead inside.
So executing him right away would have been unjust for her.
Yet she would not simply repay in kind either.
‘I’ll make it far more agonizing.’
If a shred of hope sprouted, she’d crush it. If expectations inflated, she’d burst them. Yet not let him give up either–crumbling from the inside until utterly reduced to ashes. That’s what she’d do.
“This much is enough.”
So for now, she would go this far. Elise smiled at Karan.
“I’m planning to go out tomorrow. If you have time, would you come with me?”
“Is this a date invitation?”
Elise hesitated, wondering if among her various plans, anything qualified as a date. She gave a small nod.
Seemingly without any expectation, a small ripple appeared in Karan’s eyes.
“A date, you say. Elise, you invited me on a date?”
“Why? Is it strange for me to invite you on a date?”
“No, but you are…”
Elise silently waited for Karan to continue.
